Golf practice device

ABSTRACT

A golf practice device, particularly for training and practicing proper putting, said device comprising a pair of members each having a longitudinally extending guide portion and an inwardly turned end portion, with one of the end portions fitting over the other in a telescopic relationship, fasteners associated with said end portions for adjustably connecting said end portions to vary the width between said longitudinally extending guide portions, and feet or stance guide members which are detachably secured to either of said longitudinally extending guide members, said feet guide members including a plate and a strip pivotally secured thereto with said plate detachably secured to the underside of said longitudinal guide portion and with said strips being pivotally adjustable to various angular positions with respect to the longitudinal guide portions.

United States Paten .1191

Ford et al.

[451 Feb. 25,1975

1 1 GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE Primary Examiner-George J. Marlo Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Max R. Kraus [76] Inventors: Douglas M. Ford, 3 Hartman PL,

Tuckahoe, NY. 10707; Richard C. Schluter, 2420 Newton St., Vienna, [57] ABSTRACT Va. 22180 A golf practice device, particularly for training and practicing proper putting, said device comprising a [22] Flledf 1973 pair of members each having a longitudinally extend- [21] Appl. No.: 423,231 ing guide portion and an inwardly turned end portion, with one of the end portions fitting over the other in a telescopic relationship, fasteners associated with said 2% 8 273,186 273/187 end portions for adjustably connecting said end pord "I 186 191 tions to vary the width between said longitudinally ex- 1 0 can tending guide portions, and feet or stance guide mem- 56 R f d bers which are detachably secured to either of said 1 1 e erences longitudinally extending guide members, said feet UNITED STATES PATENTS guide members including a plate and a strip pivotally 2,790,642 4/1957 Rolfe 273/187 R secured thereto with said plate detachably secured to 2,894,755 7/1959 20 273/192 the underside of said longitudinal guide portion and 3,041,075 6/1962 Taylor 273/188 A X with said Strips being pivotally adjustable to various 3,229,981 1/1966 Taber 273/187 R angular positions wih respect to the longitudinal 3,244,421 5/1966 Hanna 273/187 R uide onions 3,658,344 4/1972 Kimble 273/187 R g p 10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 2 16 l6 10 .Llfld .Llfld I 18 'suo-l LHOHS W 30 1 T l l 1 U 1 ,56 P 5,4 32 2 SHORT 11 '53s? J '11pu1r J GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of thisinvention is to provide a golf practice device particularly for training and practicing proper putting, wherein the putting stroke of the golfer is controlled so that he can train himself to swing in a straight putting line, saiddevice having means for properly locating the golfers feet or stance while practicing putting strokes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf practice device which is adapted for either right or left hand swinging and which has indications for indicating the distance for a short putt as well as a long putt and which is very economical and inexpensive to produce.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the golf practice device of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a view partly in sectiontaken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of FIG. 1.

The golf practice device of this invention is generally indicated at 10 and includes a pair of members designated at 12 and 14 which are of generally similar configuration. The member 12 has a longitudinal guide portion or guide member indicated at 16 with an inwardly and transversely extending end connecting portion generally indicated at 18, the end connecting portion being at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal guide portion or guide member 16. The members 12 and 14 are each integrally molded of a plastic material and are formed so that the'longitudinal portion as well as the transversely extending end portion are of inverted U-shaped configuration, as best seen in FIG. 6, with the bottom being open.

The forward end of the longitudinal guide portion 16 has a downwardly inclined front end 20 and terminates in a front closed end wall 21, with the inside front wall inclined as at 22.'The top wall of the transversely extending portion 18 has an opening 24 for receiving a threaded bolt 26 which rests on a washer. The threaded bolt 26 is adapted to extend through a slot in the end wall of the other member 14.

The other member 14 also has a longitudinal guide portion or guide member 28 and an inwardly and transversely extending end connecting portion 30 at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal guide portion or guide member 28. The inwardly turned end portion 30 is of a slightly smaller dimension, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, so that it telescopically fits within the end portion 18 and is provided with a shoulder 32 extending along the top and the rear edge. The inwardly turned end 30 has a longitudinal slot 34 therein which receives the bolt 26 and a wing nut 36' and a washer is secured to the end of saidbolt to engage the underside of the end portion 30 to adjustably lock andsecure the end portions 18 and 30 together so that the width or distance W between. the longitudinal guide portions 16 and 28 can be adjusted and varied. By tightening thewing nut 36 on the bolt 26 the two longitudinal guide members 16 and 28 are maintained in a parallelrelation andin a spaced position to provide the proper spacing, dependent upon the size of the putter head to be used. This unit can therefore be I adjusted to accommodate varying putter heads.

For the golfer to properly place his feet in the correct spaced relation, a pair of feet guide or stance guide members generally indicated at 38 is provided. Since both of said feet guide members 38 are identical only one will'be described. They may be made preferably of plastic. The foot guide member comprises a plate member 40 having four upwardly extending spaced posts or studs 42, said posts or studs being of generally truncated cone-shaped design and so constructed that the plate member 40 may be positioned adjacent the bottom of either of the longitudinal guide members 16 or 18 so that the posts or studs 42 are inserted inside the open bottom, with said spaced posts or studs frictionally engaging the inside of the side walls of said longitudinal guide members 16 and 28 so as to retain said foot guide members 38 in said longitudinal guide members 16 and 28, but same may be removed and detached from said longitudinal guide members by manually moving same outwardly away therefrom.

Each plate 40 is provided with an arcuate-shaped slot 44. A rectangular-shaped strip generally indicated at 46 has an opening 47 (FIG. 4)'whereby it is secured to the upstanding pin 48 of the plate and is shaped to form a head to pivotally support the strip for pivotal movement within the limits of the arcuate slot 44. The strip has an integrally formed downwardly extending pin 50 (FIG. 3) on the underside thereof which rides within the arcuate-shaped slot 44. The longitudinal inner edge of the strip 46 is provided with an upstanding lip or flange 52 against which the shoes abut. When the feet fuide or'stance members 38 are positioned and detachably secured to either of the longitudinally extending guide members 16 or 28 they are positioned in spaced relation to each other, as best seen in FIG. 1. If the golfer desires to have his feet F held in a generally straight line perpendicular with respect to the longitudinal axis of the side members 16 or 28 then the feet guide members are positioned substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the members, as shown in full lines in FIG. 1. However, if it is desired that the feet be further spread apart or angularly inclined then the strips 46 are pivoted outwardly, as indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 1, to the desired position so that the golfer will know where to position his feet in reference to the feet guide members. The feet guide members may be positioned on either side and secured to either of the longitudinal guide members 16 or 28, depending upon whether the golfer swings to the right or to the left side.

The longitudinal guide members 16 and 28 have indicia on the top thereof. A transverse line 54 with the designation short putt is placed on the top of each said member and another transverse line 56 with the designation long putt is positioned forwardly thereof. Thus, the golfer can practice swinging the putter between the end connecting walls 18 and 30 and the indicated transverse line 54 for a short putt, or between the end connecting walls and the transverse line 56-for-,

wardly thereof for a longer putt. Thus this invention 1 sizes. 7

permits a'golfer to practice his putting andindicateslthe distance to swing for a short'putt and for a longputt.

of the longitudinally extending guide.t rtions tTOr en- V 7' i gagementl therewith tofdetachably jsecuresaid feet To practice putting with this device the golfer posi-w tions his feet at the'proper stanceand then pivotallyy moves the strips 46 to the desired angular positions so that such position can be maintained while practicing. 1

The golf ball,not shown, is positioned between the spaced longitudinal guide members 16 and 2 8i and the golfer positions the head of the putter between the guide members16 and 28 and practices puttingplty maintaining the puttertheadibe'tween thguideflrhembers 1'6 and 28 the golfer is thus able toodirect his putting swing in a straight'line and thus control his putting 4 in the properdirecitionL'The device is th'ercfore'adjustable fordifferent sizes of putter heads'andis adjustable for feet guidance and the same device can be used'for 1 right-hand orleft-hand golfers. Thisdevice which'isa single simple unit eliminates the:"necessityotasubstan: tial inventory for different sizesof golf club, heads and righehand or left-hand golfers.

What is claimed is; a i V I a l. A'golf practice device comprisinga pair of members, each of said members having a longitudinallynexe tending guide portion anda continuing inwardly turned end portion substantially at right angles'to the longitudinal guide portion and at the rear endofsaidlongitu- 'dinal guide portion, said guide portion and continuing end portion being of a generally inverted U'shaped configuration in crosssection with the bottom portion 7 open and without: endfportion of'a smaller dimension o 7 than the other end'portionso that theisrnaller dimer]: sionedend portion telescopes into the otherjend portion; and means including fastening elements connected to ,said end portions for adjustablyconnecting; said end portions so that said longitudinal guide p0r-- tions are parallel to each other and are "adjustably spaced to accommodate golf 'club heads of varying LA golf practice device as set forthinclaim 1 in which feet guide membershaveupwardly extending means which areinserted into'the bottom open portion l guidemembersthereto, with said feet guide member's extending laterally andoutwardiy of said longitudinal:

portion to frictionally retainzthe foot guide member with respeettofsaid longitudinalfguide portion; o' t v 5.,Agolfpractice 'devic e assetvforthsin claim .4 in I o a which the; foot guide strip is,pivotallysecured to the J plateandlin which the plate and foot guidestrip has 1 means for limiting: the' angular positionig f id 0 guide strip. e If r 6. A golf practice device as set forth claim 5 in I g which the plate has anarcuate slotiwhich isengaged by l, a projection or pin on saids'trip for limiting, the pivotal 25" movementof said stripj 7, A golf practice device asseti forth tin' claim l whichsaid feet guide members'"may be selectively. se-

cured to either of said'longitudinally extending guide I 7 portions so that ag olfer may practice either a right-L 3o 7 hand or left-handswing.

' 8.;A golf practice deviceas set forth inclaim i t, 7 u 'w hich'each of said-members has designationsindicating pa short puttand along putty, a,

.9, A golf praotice d evioe asset forthjiin in which each of the pairof members isintegraily molded or formed of a plastic material.

IQQ'A golf practicedevioe as set forth claim in whichthe forward endofthelongitudinalfguide portion V I r has a downwardlyinclined front endand terminates in M f :40

a frontclosedendwall 

1. A golf practice device comprising a pair of members, each of said members having a longitudinally extending guide portion and a continuing inwardly turned end portion substantially at right angles to the longitudinal guide portion and at the rear end of said longitudinal guide portion, said guide portion and continuing end portion being of a generally inverted U-shaped configuration in cross-section with the bottom portion open and with one end portion of a smaller dimension than the other end portion so that the smaller dimensioned end portion telescopes into the other end portion, and means including fastening elements connected to said end portions for adjustably connecting said end portions so that said longitudinal guide portions are parallel to each other and are adjustably spaced to accommodate golf club heads of varying sizes.
 2. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 1 in which feet guide members have upwardly extending means which are inserted into the bottom open portion of the longitudinally extending guide portions for engagement therewith to detachably secure said feet guide members thereto, with said feet guide members extending laterally and outwardly of said longitudinal guide portions.
 3. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 2 in which there is a pair of feet guide members and each of said members has a guide strip which is pivotally mounted to permit angular positioning of same.
 4. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 3 in which each foot guide member includes a plate with upstanding posts, which posts are positioned inside the longitudinal guide portions through the bottom open portion to frictionally retain the foot guide member with respect to said longitudinal guide portion.
 5. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 4 in which the foot guide strip is pivotally secured to the plate and in which the plate and foot guide strip has means for limiting the angular positioning of said foot guide strip.
 6. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 5 in which the plate has an arcuate slot which is engaged by a projection or pin on said strip for limiting the pivotal movement of said strip.
 7. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 2 in which said feet guide members may be selectively secured to either of said longitudinally extending guide portions so that a golfer may practice either a right-hand or left-hand swing.
 8. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 1 in which each of said members has designations indicating a short putt and a long putt.
 9. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 1 in which each of the pair of members is integrally molded or formed of a plastic material.
 10. A golf practice device as set forth in claim 9 in which the forward eNd of the longitudinal guide portion has a downwardly inclined front end and terminates in a front closed end wall. 